Ethical Coffee for an Ethical Agency

Our Culture

We’ve always bought high quality, great tasting, fairtrade coffee at Studio Republic because these things are important to us. We value the team here highly. We spend at least 42.5 of our 112 waking hours each week together. Factoring in travel to work, and other commitments, it’s possible that we spend as much or more time with our colleagues than we do with our nearest and dearest so it’s important to treat each other well. Simple things like good coffee, flexible working as required, eating together, options for standing desks and / or ergonomic seating, coming together as a team regularly, all go some way to encouraging a positive culture. When the opportunity arose to buy a delicious, aromatic coffee blend that had the dual benefit of supporting a charity we felt it was an absolute no-brainer.

An Ethical Agency

Creative for good is more than a tagline for Studio Republic. Being an ethical agency isn’t a label for us. It’s absolutely fundamental to who we are. We’re on a journey here, aiming to be ever more considerate with our purchasing decisions and making a difference or adding value where we can. Almost weekly, we make another small change in our endeavours to be more sustainable or ‘do more good’. Our recent ethical updates include our resident vegan challenging the team to adopt ‘meat free Mondays’, a switch to reusable glass milk bottles to reduce our plastic waste, and a move from our regular hand soap to a plant-based, cruelty-free hand soap in completely recyclable packaging which can also be refilled at a local whole foods shop. We will be going for the refill option because we’ve a keen team member who is happy to take this on.

BySea Coffee

It’s not just animals and our planet that we care about either. We care about people. Seafarers are at sea, away from their families, for an average of 9 months. We can’t really imagine the toll that may take on mental health and well-being, and that’s without the risks that seafarers face every day during the course of their work. With 90% of our products being brought to us by sea, the chance to support the seafarers who are transporting our goods through the coffee we buy for the studio is a real bonus. BySea Coffee really is the icing on the cake for us as an ethical agency. Our blend of choice is the Aromatic African, it's strong, fruity, fairtrade, and providing profit for charity - what more could you ask for in your morning coffee?

We’ve not yet found a fairtrade or ethical charity tea … so we’re open to recommendations. Who knows, maybe BySea will deliver an ethical tea as an extension to their range?

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When we host interns at Studio Republic, we invite them to reflect on their experience with us. Marvin shares what he's learned, how he's been involved with the team, and how we treat interns as much more than tea!